Superglue
by SwitchbladeSweetheart
Summary: Ivy Rowan was having a rough day, but saving a rude man who just cut off his own hand made it surprisingly better. Merle Dixon hated God which was probably why the pain in the ass little angel was sent to save him. Merle/OC sibling relationship. Daryl/OC slowburn. Rated M because of Merle's big crude mouth.
1. Chapter 1 (03-23 17:31:18)

Hey guys this is my first TWD fic but I've been thinking about writing one for a **long** time now. This fic is based off of the show but I plan to pretty much scrap the timeline and make it my own. I want to focus a lot on family in this fic so the romance is going to be major slowburn, we probably wont even meet Daryl for a long time. I'm sorry to anyone who doesn't like that. Oh and also this is written and uploaded on the mobile app so I'm not too sure what the formatting is like yet on desktop. I hope you all enjoy though!

 _'thoughts'_

"speech"

Superglue: Chapter 1

Surviving the big city life was tough enough for Ivy Rowan as it was, but then 'The Fall' happened and had to go and make a big deal out of surviving in general. Ivy had grown up in a rural town in Yukon Canada, but she tagged along with her brother when he moved to Atlanta to fill a business position. Large crowds of people were never Ivy's thing, so adjusting to the cramed, fast pace lifestyle was a bit tricky for her, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make to stick with her beloved brother, the only family she had. Unfortunately not even a year after the big move, life as she knew it came to an end. Everything happened so fast, there was no way to prepare for the devastation that was coming. 'The Fall', as Ivy had begun to call it, was reported to have started somewhere in Africa and after a few days news of a strange illness had started to spread. It was too bad the illness traveled faster than the news because by the time the government released any information the dead had already started taking over the rest of the world.

When The Fall hit Georgia word of a refuge center in Atlanta was spread. That news didn't sit well with Ivy's brother, Carter. He had said that the government was crazy if they thought they could protect a city that big, and insisted that they leave. So Ivy packed a few bags, loaded them into Carter's truck and they hit the road only to get trapped on the highway to watch the city go up in flames. Carter was right, the city was easily overrun and the military had made a last ditch effort to stop the dead by bombing the city. Of course that didn't work though because as Ivy soon learned, only trauma to the brain could render the 'dead' permanently dead.

The duo fled the highway that night and had taken to the woods. They lasted a mere week before Ivy's world truly crumbled. The moment Ivy watched the life drain from her brother's eyes was the moment the apocalypse truly began for her. With Carter by her side she could do anything, without him she felt lost. Losing him was like losing her other half. And she'd never forgive herself for letting it happen.

After losing her brother Ivy could not bring herself to leave his grave so instead of moving on in search of supplies and a safer camp, she was forced to return to nearby Atlanta to scavenge. At first, the city and its hordes of dead terrified her and she nearly got herself stupidly killed on her first few runs. Eventually though she got a hang of using her small size to sneak around without alerting the dead and sending them into a frenzy. Runs into Atlanta became a breeze for Ivy, well at least they were a breeze until other idiots decided to stir up trouble and get her trapped in the city.

The run started like any other, sneaking through alleyways and searching through buildings for supplies while keeping quiet and encountering as little dead as possible. Ivy had filled her backpack by noon and was confident she would make it out of the city long before night fell. She was peeking out between buildings hoping to find a smooth exit route when a man in a sheriff uniform on a horse frantically rode into her path a few blocks down the road. The mass of dead went into a frenzy and Ivy had no choice but to stay in the relative saftey of her alley and watch with a heavy heart as the sheriff got thrown and the horse went down. She was about two city blocks away with a sea of dead between them and there was no way she could help the sheriff, but saw him crawl under a tank not to far from him.

' _I hope he managed to get inside.'_ If he was inside he was trapped, but alive, which meant she could try to help him. He may have caused her some major trouble, and there was a good chance she could die trying to help him, but the world was shitty enough as it was and she was not about to let someone starve to death in a tank. _'Carter would know what to do.'_ Figuring she had time to work out a plan of action she climbed the fire escape of the tall building to her left so she could get a birds eye view of the situation. She made it to the top and pulled her binoculars out of her bag just in time to see the sheriff burst out of the top of the tank and make a run for an alleyway to his right.

"That man sure has guts, hopefully those guts don't become dinner for the dead. Good luck sheriff." She said. The sheriff was out of the tank and on his own now. All she had to do now was find a way out of the situation the reckless sheriff caused. Going forward was not an option, the swarm around the downed horse and tank blocked her original route, and going back the way she came was also a no-go because the horde she had passed through the next block over was riled up as well.

 _'Well ain't that_ _crappy_ '

Her best option at that point was to try going roof to roof until she was in a clear zone and she could go back down to the streets and out of the city. Traveling by rooftop was going to be time consuming as she'd have to climb down between buildings she couldn't jump across, which was going to be a lot of them considering she was cursed with short legs. The distance between the building she was on and the next was a distance she thought she could make, so she packed her binoculars back into her trusty backpack then heaved it across to the other building. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath then opened them and took a flying leap. "Holy shit" she breathed out when her feet hit the other side. The next one she was thankful she had to climb down.

Not even ten minutes later shots rang out and echoed through the air. Ivy instinctively ducked down onto the roof she was on and covered her head. The shots lasted only a minute or two before they stopped, but she stayed down for a few more moments just to be safe before moving on again.

Traveling by rooftop was exhausting work, and after dispatching some dead with her knife on the way, Ivy was quickly running out of steam when it started to rain. She took a break on a roof and let the rain cool her heated skin. She was beginning to doubt she'd make it back to her camp by night fall. This wouldn't be the first time she would have to spend the night in the city but that didn't make it any less worrying. Sleeping on a rooftop was fairly safe as long as it was cleared of the dead and all rooftop access doors were checked on. Deciding to gain as much ground as possible before dark, Ivy shook her arms and legs out and kept moving. Building after building and even more commotion in the streets below, _'a car alarm?'_ , but she kept going. Her arms and back were on fire and her legs were begging her to stop jumping and climbing. She was breathing heavy and sweating bullets when she suddenly started hearing deranged yells up ahead. She couldn't see anyone standing on buildings in front of her though. Maybe whoever it was had been shot in the earlier gunfire and was laying down hurt behind on if the walls where she couldn't see them? Before Ivy could call out to whoever it was the yells and unintelligible rambling turned to anguished screaming. She immediately rushed to the edge of the roof she was on and realized it was too far to jump.

"Just hold on!" Ivy yelled over in an attempt to calm the person down and let them know someone was on their way to help. she scrambled down the ladder in record time despite her bodies protests and panicked halfway back up the other side when she realized the screaming had stopped. By the time she pulled herself up over the edge of the roof she felt like she was going to pass out. Ivywilled herself to keep moving but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a man lying on the ground.

He was a muscular man with a closely shaved head and a scruffy face, wearing cargo pants, a ripped wife beater shirt and a black vest. His skin was lobster read and blistered in some places from the sun. His face was scrunched up and his teeth were grit in obvious pain. Pain which was probably caused by the hand lying a foot from where it should have been attached to the bleeding stump of his arm. "Holy walnuts..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Chapter two is here! Thank you to 11shunter and AquaRoseWaters for the kind Reviews!**

Superglue: Chapter 2

"Holy walnuts..." Ivy could not believe what she was seeing. The world had ended and dead people liked to eat the flesh off living people now, so she had seen some pretty gruesome things in the last few weeks. Hell she had watched her brother die not too long ago, but seeing a living man clutching his bleeding stump of an arm while his missing hand sat not too far away, was a different level of disturbing. Especially when she noticed the bloody handcuffs dangling from a pipe above the disembodied hand. Other than some dead trying to get in through the chained door she couldn't see anyone else on the roof. A wave of disgust and sadness washed through her.

 _'Someone left him here to die..._ '

Ivy shook herself from her moment of shock and horror, swung her bag off her back and began rummaging through it while she ran toward the man. She dropped to her knees by the man as she pulled out her on-the-go first aid kit.

"Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" she questioned urgently and reached out to touch his shoulder. The moment Ivy's fingers brushed the man's shoulder his eyes flashed open and his good arm struck out at her. She let out a startled and pained yelp as the man's fist hit her in the face and knocked her back onto her butt.

"Th' fuck away from me ya dead bastard!" the man rasped out in a thick southern accent as he made a grab for the handsaw laying nearby and struggled to stand up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm alive! I'm alive!" Ivy exclaimed in an attempt to calm the man and to stop any attack he may have made.

"Wha'?" the man grumbled confusedly, and swayed to his feet, the saw still raised to fight.

 _'He must be suffering from major blood loss and possibly sunstroke. We need to bandage that arm asap!'_

Without the man holding the stump to slow the bleeding, blood was now pouring out of the wound and Ivy knew that without immediate help he would die of blood loss in no time.

"Sir, my name is Ivy and I'm tryna' help you out. We really need to wrap up that arm before it's too late, you're losing blood fast!" Ivy said as calmly as she could, while internally freaking out. She refused to watch someone else die when there was a chance she could save them, but she had a feeling saving this man was going to be difficult.

 _'What is it with me tryna be the hero today? Paper Lace would be disappointed.'_

The man had begun mumbling to himself and was rapidly blinking his eyes as if he couldn't quite see. "Sir I've got some stuff here to help you. I'm going to come over now, please don't punch me again. Or use that saw." she got up and cautiously walked towards him as she pleaded with him. He started mumbling louder and stumbled back a few steps as she came toward him. She had no clue what he was saying but that didn't really matter to her at the moment, she was more preoccupied with stopping his rapid blood loss than she was with unscrambling his brain. Ivy got to him just in time to put her arms out to him as he started falling forward. She caught him around the waist and almost fell backwards as the large man practically collapsed onto her. He had to be at least a head and a half taller than her and he definitely weighed a whole lot more. Ivy struggled to get him to the ground as gently as possible and rolled him onto his back.

 _'Well if he's passed out at least he can't hit me again.'_

Once she got him settled on the ground she snatched up her first aid kit and set to work on his arm, as quickly as possible she packed gauze into the would then tightly wrapped more around it to hold it in place. The man rumbled as Ivy applied pressure to the wound and his eyes flickered open again. She tensed and prepared for any negative reaction from him, but thankfully none came.

"I told 'im I wouldn't beg. I don't need you." he grumbled at her.

"What? Who?" Ivy squinted at him in confusion.

"The asshole up there." he snorted and jerked his chin up towards the sky. Deciding not to question the man who was obviously not mentally or emotionally stable at the moment, she reached for his other hand and brought it to his wound.

"Here, put pressure on it. I bet you could really use some water right now then hopefully you'll be able to help me figure out what to do next." Ivy said to him. When he didn't object she reached back to her bag and grabbed her water bottle. She opened the lid and gently tilted the man's sweaty head forward so he could drink. He drank quickly and greedily until she pulled the water away from him so he wouldn't make himself sick.

"There. Feeling any more clear up there?" she gestured toward his head. He narrowed his slightly sharper eyes at her.

"Need ta cauterize it." he said gruffly and started to sit up. Ivy was surprised that he was making sense and trying to move so soon.

 _'This guy sure is made outta some tough stuff! The only problem is figuring out how to cauterize it... And if my stomach can handle it.'_

She swallowed thickly, "I don't have anything with me to do that."

"Department stores got break rooms. Break rooms gotta have a stove." he told her, his tone sugesting he thought she had less sense than a brick. Ivy was slightly offended, but figured the guy was having a rough day and probably wasn't in the mood to be nice. If only she knew.

"Right. Do you think you can stand?" she asked him. She was worried that he'd need more help than her aching body was able to give.

"Ya can fuck right on off to wherever ya came from, Angel. Dixon's don't need help from no one. Especially not from no fuckin' God." he snarled at her as he started to have himself up.

 _'Okayyy... So maybe that water didn't help as much as I thought it did.'_

Ivy frowned at him, "How're you supposed to get by those walkers at the door? I'm sure on a good day you could take em' easy peasy, but you're currently missing a hand and you don't have a weapon." she said matter of factly. He shot her a dirty look and stalked off to the other side of the roof, handsaw in one hand while his hurt arm was pressed close to his stomach. "Hey! Where're you— oh! Another door." she was surprised to see another door on the other side of the roof.

 _'Such an idiot Ivy. Rushing into this situation without fully taking in your surroundings and escape routes. Carter woulda boxed your ears by now'_

The man completely ignored her and kept walking. He was not in the right mind to take care of himself at the moment and she had no plans of leaving him now, so she quickly stuffed her supplies back in her bag and took off on her short legs after him. Even with his injury her short legs were no match for his long, surprisingly confident, strides. The door must have been unlocked because by the time she caught up with him he was already through the door and starting down the stairs.

The mam seemed to know where he was going so Ivy guessed he had already been through here before he somehow got cuffed on the roof. That was something she was definitely curious about, who just handcuffs someone to a roof and leaves them to bake in the sun!? Someone had obviously taken the precaution of chaining the door shut to keep the dead from getting too him, but to Ivy leaving the man to the mercy of the elements seemed almost a worse fate.

 _'No wonder the dude cut his own hand off. I have no clue how long he was up there but I can't imagine what it would feel like to be abandoned like that for any length of time. I probably woulda gone a bit wonky too.'_

The other staircase was packed with the dead trying to get onto the roof, so that meant they had to be inside this building. The odd pair hadn't run into any yet but Ivy was on edge. When it came to the smell of the living, especially the injured living, the dead had great noses. She had no doubt that to the dead, the bleeding man smelt like a great meal while she would be some nice dessert.

Sure enough, they weren't out of the stairwell for more than a few minutes when a dead woman shambled out of a room ahead of them. Ivy had been keeping pace behind the man, as she didn't really want to piss him off anymore than he already was, so when the dead woman came at them the injured man was her immediate target. Ivy cursed herself in her head and was about to duck around the man to take out the dead with her knife, but before she could the man had already brought the hacksaw down onto the deads head. He then kicked his leg out into its chest and pushed it back while pushing the saw down, using the momentum of the falling dead to create the 'sawing' motion which cut through its weak skull into its brain, killing it for good.

The stunt had obviously strained the man and he was breathing heavily and leaning slightly on the wall. Ivy was worried and even though she was not looking forward to burning this man's wound closed, she hoped they got there soon before he passed out or they encountered more dead.

"How much farther?" she questioned him nervously. Once again he ignored her and continued on. Ivy sighed and followed after him.

Thankfully they soon reached a room with a kitchen along the wall and a few lunch tables. The man wasted no time making his way to the stove and started to dig around in the cupboards above for what he needed. Ivy's stomach dropped when she saw him pull out a saucepan and flick on the stove.

"A pan? We're gonna do this with a pan!?" she questioned him with wide eyes.

"There ain't no 'we' Angel." he sneered at her, "So either get out or sit the fuck down and shut your trap 'cause I ain't got time to deal with ya."

"What, so you just plan to do this on your own? That's insane! Listen Tough Guy, you may have made it through cutting your own freaking hand off but I really don't think you're gonna be able to make it through this without passing out halfway through. You might as well let me help so you can get it done in one shot." She tried to reason with him as calmly as she could. Something in her gut told her that anger would get her nowhere with this stubborn man. She would just have to try and keep her cool.

"I ain't no pussy, I dont need help from a little girl. I've given ya yer options so take yer pick because yer gettin' on my last nerve." the man snarled at her. His face was extremely pale and his shoulders were hunched in pain, but that didn't make him any less intimidating. Ivy knew it would be best to leave like the man obviously wished she would, but even though he was rude and intimidating she couldn't leave him like this. He would surely pass out and then he'd be an even easier target for the dead. Easily making up her mind she took at seat at one of the lunch tables and when the man narrowed his eyes at her she simply made a zipper motion across her mouth and gave him an innocent smile.The man turned around and mumbled something nasty about her, which she was pretty sure he meant for her to hear, while removing all of his bandages but the few packed into the wound. Ivy huffed and crossed her arms.

 _'Jerkwad.'_

After waiting for a bit the man seemed to decide the pan was hot enough because without warning he snatched it up, sat down, tugged off the last bandaging and pressed the hot pan onto his arm. Ivy was frozen in wide eyed shock as the smell of sizzling flesh assaulted her nose. The mans eyes were clenched shut and a hiss escaped his grit teeth. She focused on his face because if she didn't she knew she'd be focused on the burning flesh of his arm. The smell was enough to almost make her hurl, seeing what was going on would have sent her over the edge. Ivy sat there, eyes locked on his pained face, for what seemed like an eternity before he growled and pushed the pan away. Then he promptly passed out. Again. A small smile spread across Ivy's face.

 _'Well. I was right about him passing out. But he was right about being able to get it done without my help. This dude is beyond tough, which is good because he may just be stuck with me'_


	3. Chapter 3

**Ugh sorry for the slow update guys! I've been sick for the last week and a half and have been in no mood to write. I'm all better now though so I figured I better get writing this! Thank you robotech3.14 for the review on chapter 2! My biggest worry when I was deciding if I should write this fic or not was if I would be able to pull off writing Merle, especially while interacting with Ivy. They have such seemingly contrasting personalities, but I hope to flesh out a softer side to Merle without making him too OOC ****so please keep letting me know how I'm doing with him. Thank you as well to all the people who followed and favourited!**

Superglue: Chapter 3

Ivy was exhausted beyond belief. After the man had passed out she set to work securing the room, and then rewrapping his stump with clean bandages. Now that all the pressing matters were dealt with and Ivy finally had time to take a minute to breathe, all the events of the day hit her like a ton of bricks. Her body ached all over from the climbing and jumping she did earlier and her cheek was throbbing from the punch the man threw at her. With the adrenaline no longer keeping her going she slumped down onto the cool floor instead of the hard plastic chair she was previously in.

 _'Today has been wild.'_

She let out a long sigh as she ran the the day's events through her head. A simple, but dangerous, supply run had turned into something not so simple and a lot more dangerous. Ivy wasn't stupid. She knew that helping this man was really risky. Once he woke up again and gained some strength she doubted it would be hard for him to overpower her. She didn't know what type of person he was and if he would try to steal all her supplies or do worse to her, but all her life her stupid heart had always reigned over her brain, and this situation was no different.

Leaving this man behind while he was passed out would be the smart thing to do. She had given him medical supplies and helped him with the immediate dangers of his arm, and she didn't owe him anything so for her own safety it would be logical to leave. Unfortunately there was a tugging at Ivy's heart that she knew all too well and it refused to leave the man behind despite the threat he posed.

Ivy felt the last trickle of energy leave her body and with the last thought of how stupid she was she unwillingly joined the man in sleep.

xXx

A loud crash jolted Ivy out of sleep and her hand flew to the knife hanging on her belt. When her hand hit her hip her heart skipped a beat and she froze.

"Lookin' for somethin' there sweetheart?" the smug voice of the man sounded from behind her.

She whipped her head around so fast that pieces of her long hair fell loose from the most likely scraggly bun piled on top of her head. When her eyes locked onto the man panic started bubbling up in her chest. The man was standing by the kitchen counter and had Ivy's backpack slung over the shoulder of his injured arm while he was twirling her knife in his other hand.

 _'His only_ _hand.'_

There was a pot on the floor which she guessed he had accidentally knocked over while searching through the cupboards. He didn't look too pleased that she was awake, which lead her to believe he had been trying to sneak out while she was asleep, but he couldn't resist searching the room first and had woken her by knocking the pot to the ground.

"My knife, but I found it." she narrowed her eyes at him, "You were planning on taking all my stuff and leaving me behind, weren't you?"

"Tha's how the world works Angel. Yer even more stupid than I thought if ya didn't already know that." he sneered at her and started walking to the door.

Ivy's panic increased. She couldn't let him leave without her. He had her supplies, but more importantly she didn't want to be on her own anymore. Even before The Fall Ivy never handled being alone well, and this man was the first person she had interacted with since she lost her brother. Sure, their minimal time together wasn't the greatest and this man definitely wasn't the happiest guy in the world, but Ivy was willing to deal with that if it meant having a companion in this world. Plus, this guy sure seemed to be the toughest dude she'd ever met and considering she was a barely five foot tall chick who lacked all forms of muscle and intimidation, he could really come in handy in the survival department. Ivy needed him, now she just had to convince him that he needed her as well. She scrambled to her feet after him.

"I might seem pretty stupid to you, but how do you expect to make it through the city of dead with a freshly sawed off arm, hmm? You've lost a lot of blood, haven't had any real sleep other than passing out a couple times and you obviously haven't eaten yet considering you were tryna sneak out of here without me." Ivy pointed out. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I think you could benefit from having me around just as much as I could benefit from having you around."

The man turned around with an angry look on his face. "I may be missing a hand, but I still sure as hell don't need no ones help. And I ain't no kid fiddler so there's other reason to keep ya around." he gave her a genuinely disgusted look.

 _'Well its good to know he's not a pedophile at least.'_

Ivy snorted, "I may look young but I'm twenty two. Not that it matters, I wasn't offering to help you in that way. I do know of a place that can help you out with rigging that up though." she jutted her chin toward his injured arm. "And I know all the safest routes to get there."

He stared at her for a moment and Ivy could imaging the wheels turning in his head. She had planned to show him the medical supplies warehouse on the outskirts of the city anyway, but at this point it was the only bargaining chip she had. After helping him with this hopefully he wouldn't be as opposed to coming back to camp with her and then sticking around.

Ivy knew the moment he came to a decision because the scowl that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face deepened.

"What're ya hoping to get outta this Angel?" he questioned her.

"A friend. I don't like being alone. Plus, you seem like the kind of tough guy who can handle anything that's thrown at him, so that's a major bonus." a little honest flattery seemed like it would work with this guy, and sure enough Ivy watched him puff up with obvious male pride. She had to hold back her smile at the sight of it.

"Fine, but I ain't mollycoddling ya or none of that other girly shit. You fuck up, you deal with it, I ain't no babysitter and it don't matter to me if ya wind up dead or not. Ya got that kid?" he said gruffly and pointed threateningly at her with the knife, her knife, in his hand.

"Yes sir!" Ivy mock saluted and she couldn't stop the joyful smile from spreading across her face.

"Let's get a move on then." he turned and started for the door.

"Wait! Can I have my knife back? There's another one in the front pocket of my bag you can have, but that one's special and I'm going to need to be able to protect myself. After all you're not a babysitter, remember?" she reached her hand out imploringly with a small friendly smile that she hoped would show him that she didn't intended to stab him in that back with it. He only seemed annoyed though as he shoved it in the sheath and undid it from his belt then tossed it to her. After finding the second knife exactly where she told him it would be he turned on his heel and made for the door again without another word. As Ivy followed after him a sudden thought hit her and almost made her laugh.

"Hey one more thing, I told you my name earlier–" she stopped for a second and her nose scrunched up at the memory, "its Ivy Rowan by the way, things were really hectic so I'm not too sure if you remember or not–" she added in before continuing with her original thought, "but I never caught your name?"

"Merle Dixon. Now shut her mouth and be quiet, yer gonna attract walkers!" he snapped.

"Walkers?" the question came out before she could stop it, "Is that what you call the dead?"

All he did was narrow is eyes at her in equal amounts aggravation and warning as she tried to keep up with his long legs. Ivy smiled impishly at the gruff man and mimed zippering her lips and throwing away the key, she receive a glare in return which only made her smile wider. Carter had always talked about staying positive and hopeful no matter what, but she'd been having a hard time doing that while being alone in this world. This was the first time since losing him that she truly felt positive and hopeful about what the murky future held.

' _Be grumpy all you want ol'man, I can already tell you'll learn to love me eventually!_ '


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow. Back at it again with that horrible update time. I have a good reason though! I'm in my final year of highschool and for the last month or so I've been working non stop on final summatives and haven't had time to write. I'm currently studying super hard for my exams that start on Wednesday, but I've been writing during study breaks as a bit of a stress reliever and because I feel bad for keeping you all waiting for so long. So yeah, sorry for the long wait, hopefully once summer comes I'll have a more regular update schedule though. Thank you to robotech3.14** , **Bloody.Kirai and LightningMcMonica for the reviews on chapter three (I plan to start replying to reviews, I don't know why I haven't yet, sorry guys) as well as all the new follows and favourites, it really means a lot to me!**

Superglue: Chapter 4

Ivy was in for a surprise when they reached the roof again just in time to see the sun creep up over the horizon. They had both slept—if you can count passing out from pain or sheer exhaustion 'sleep'— through the night, which looking back on it now was probably for the best. Walking over to the edge of the roof Ivy could see that the sea below them had settled over night. The thousands of dead still ambled around haphazardly below, but they were no longer riled up into a feeding frenzy. Even the second roof access door was no longer being rattled by the hungry dead who'd had their eyes set on Merle the previous day.

"If we wrap something else around your arm just to make sure the fresh blood smell isn't as strong on you we should be able to hit the streets... I have an extra shirt in my bag you can use, but you probably already know that dontcha Ol' Man?" she said to him while eyeing up her backpack.

Merle ignored the nickname and her poke at his thievery while he took the bag of his back and dug around for the shirt. "How far we gotta go ta get ta this place? And how do ya know it ain't gonna be over run or picked clean huh?" he questioned her.

"It should only take two or so hours to get there depending on how clear the best routes are... and if you can keep up." Ivy smirked at him. She couldn't hold back the joy that was still coursing through her that came from knowing that she had a chance at not being alone anymore, and it was definitely showing. Or maybe she was just going slightly crazy. Who knew? "I haven't been there for a few weeks but its a pretty low key place. Also it doesn't have any meds or anything like that so I guess it doesn't attract too much attention." she finished answering his question.

He stopped wrapping his arm with her spare shirt and looked up at her with narrowed eyes. "Whadya mean there ain't no meds?" he practically growled at her.

Ivy looked up at him with worry, "It's a medical supply warehouse not a pharmacy. Its where they keep stuff like hospital gowns, gloves, masks, iv things, patient hygiene products, sterilization solutions, orthopedic supplies, stuff like that. Most imprtantly though is what we're looking for: prosthetic supplies." she rambled off the list, "I don't have any antibiotics at my camp, just Tylenol, but if we keep it clean we shouldn't need them." her eyebrows and nose scrunched up in worry.

 _'I didn't even think about what would happen if he got an infection... getting our hands on antibiotics would be hard but we might need to do it.'_

Merle spit off to the side and gave a grumbled curse.

Felling slightly guilty Ivy sheepishly gestured to his half wrapped arm, "Want me to—"

"No." he snapped and quickly finished securing the shirt by tucking the end in under the rest of the wrap. "Let's go." he walked to the maintenance ladder. Ivy's eyes widened and panic gripped her as she nervously ran after his long determined strides.

"W-wait! What are you doing?! Your arm—are you cra— this isn't going to work!" she stuttered and waved her arms around in a fluster. He ignored her though, checked the alley below then adjusted the backpack before turning around to start climbing down.

"Hey! Are you listening to me? You just lost a hand! How are you gonna climb down there huh?!" Ivy's voice rose an octave and she latched onto the elbow if his bad arm.

"Fuck off! I got it." he shook her off harshly. She was forced to watch with bated breath as he grabbed the railing with his single hand and looped his right arm around the other side, 'holding' it with his elbow.

"Just so you know, I really don't like this and I one hundred percent think we should just use the stairs." Ivy's hands were still flapping nervously in front of her chest

"Just so ya know, I don't give a fuck." he said, readjusting his grip as he slowly began to climb down the ladder. Seeing as she couldn't do much to stop him at this point she paced around at the top of the ladder until he was far enough down that she could start down after him.

Ivy's muscles protested with a deep ache as she began her descent, but she had no choice but to deal with it as they slowly made their way down. It took almost double the time it would have if she were on her own, or at least if her partner had two hands, but she made it to the ground without too much trouble. When her feet finally hit the ground behind Merle he was already checking the alleyway for dead.

Merle was breathing heavily and his skin was drenched with sweat as she quietly evaluated him. Obviously the climb was more taxing than he wanted to show and Ivy frowned at this. She was no medical expert, hell she barely made it through highschool, but she was pretty sure that over exerting himself so soon after such a traumatic injury was not good for his overall health. Asking him if he wanted a break probably wasn't in her best interest unless she wanted to get snapped at.

 _'Guess I'll just have to slow him down without him knowing about it.'_

"Men." she said under her breath and rolled her eyes. "Which way is more clear?" Ivy asked him.

"They're spread out more on tha west side." he gestured to the left end of the alley. "Smaller street ta the right side ah us, 's packed. Which way we gotta go ta get there?" he turned towards her.

"I can get us there either way. I just don't want to get munched on in the process—"

"This way then. C'mon." Merle cut her off and made his way to crouch behind the barrier at the left end of the alley. She was quick to follow and squat down beside him so they could come up with a plan.

They would need to go a few blocks up then cut back across going east to get to the warehouse. Ivy figured once they got a few blocks away from where the swarm happened the dead would be more spread out and it would be a bit easier to navigate through the city. Getting through the remains of the swarm here would be the hard part.

"So what do you think? Hug the buildings and dip into empty side streets or alleys if we have to?" she asked in a low voice.

Merle observed the dead in the street with a sharp eye. "Seems like tha best bet. Keep low an keep quiet. Which direction we going?"

"North. Once we get far enough up we'll head east, hopefully its clear enough that way and we can move a bit faster." she looked over to him and he gave a quiet grunt of agreement then started to slowly make his way over the barrier.

As Ivy climbed over after him she was almost thankful that he had her backpack. It was definitely easier for her to keep quiet and move quickly when she wasn't worrying about the contents of her pack clunking about. She was impressed when Merle went over the barrier because for such a big dude with a backpack full of supplies, who was also injured, he didnt so much as make a whisper of sound as he went.

 _'I'm still not impressed with my stuff being commandeered though... We'll have to work on that one later.'_

The first few minutes were slow going, but they attracted little attention. Ivy kept a close eye on her feet because she was worried about tripping over any debris in the street. This was one of the more risky stunts she had pulled since The Fall and she was extremely nervous that the whole situation would go South and they'd both end up as dinner.

Of course she knew that casually walking down a street owned by the dead wasn't going to be a breeze, so she was prepared when they drew a bit of attention here and there and were forced to quietly take down some of the dead. Thankfully, they came in twos or threes and were fairly easy to deal with without stirring up bigger, unmanageable, groups.

Ivy could see Merle slightly struggling while grappling with of of the dead before killing it and decided that it might be best if she took point instead. He made no complaint as she scooted up in front of him, but she wasn't sure if it was because keeping quiet was a priority at the moment or if he was grateful for the slight break. Ivy guessed it was the former.

By the time Ivy thought it would be safe to cut back east they had been going for almost an hour. They had to dip into a few alleyways on the way so she could force Merle to drink some water and to let some of the dead settle down a bit in more crowded areas. Ivy had also cut her pace back from her normal steady speed because she was afraid of him pushing himself too hard.

' _Its easier to play weak for now than have him passing out in the streets. Lord knows I'd never be able to drag him to safety.'_

After that though it was fairly smooth sailing, well as smooth sailing as the whole situation could be. They had made it to the warehouse in a whopping four hours, and if the glares Merle had been sending her for the last hour wasn't an indication of how unimpressed he was then she didn't know what was.

"Thought ya said it would only take two hours?" he said while looking at her critically.

"What can I say? I've got short legs!" she shrugged and put her hands up in front of her chest.

Merle narrowed his eyes at her, "Well ya best hope they grow, cuz I ain't slowin' down for ya again little girl. Next time I'm leavin' yur slow ass behind."

"Mhmm," Ivy hummed and patted his arm as she walked by him to open the gate surrounding the warehouse, "I'll hold you to it Ol' Man."

She was probably lucky he couldn't see the triumphant grin on her face as she walked away from him.


	5. Chapter 5

**So guess which crappy writer is back?! Thats right, me! I'm going to start off by saying that I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever. My fist term of uni really kicked my butt mentally and emotionally and I didn't have the time or motivation to write, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to overall be healthier and that includes leaving myself time to relax and have fun so I don't burn myself out again. This is going to be one of those things I do for that! Also I know Ivy's character is a little bit all over the place, but hopefully some of the hints I dropped in this chapter kind of explain whats going on with her. She's definitely a lil' emotionally messed up right now, but with the right set of people and some time I'm sure healing is possible for our poor gal. Anyway sorry for that long ass explanation, but you guys deserved it! I hope you enjoy!!!**

Superglue Chapter 5

"Uh oh.." Ivy's heart started pounding as she held the padlock on the gate in her hands.

"What now?" Merle huffed in exasperation as he stomped towards her noticing the lock, "Ya best not tell me ya lost tha key." He snarled.

"Uh... Nope, because this isn't my lock." She cut her eyes to him nervously and then quickly to their surroundings. Someone else had clearly claimed this place and they were out in the open as easy targets.

They needed to get to cover, and fast. Merle, who was obviously thinking the same thing, was immediately on high alert. His knife was out in a flash and he made his way back across the street to duck down between a car and a wall. Ivy was quick to follow. From what she could tell already in their little time together, Merle had great instincts and was very in tune with what was going on around him. He would be a dangerous man to go up against, but a step up in survival if he was on your side.

' _I'm lucky for now and I'd like to keep it that way.'_

"There a back way in?" Merle questioned her.

"There isn't another gate, but it backs up into a weird little wooded ravine area so we'd have more coverage to try and hop the fence... what if there are people in there though?" Ivy questioned nervously. Even though she hated being alone, since losing her brother she avoided other people and groups at all cost. The living were more dangerous than the dead at this point. She had learned this the hard way, but by the time she did it was too late. It was not a mistake she intended to make again.

At least that's how it was before she met Merle yesterday. She obviously couldn't leave him in the condition he was in, but she really ought to have left him as soon as he had cauterized his wound. Her heart and her loneliness were getting in the way of her survival. There was no doubt that Merle was an extremely dangerous man who would most likely leave her for dead if it meant saving his own skin, but somehow that wasn't worrying to Ivy. She surprisingly felt safer in the last few hours with this dangerous and brash man than she had in the past few months on her own. It was all very conflicting inside her, the knowledge that other people were the biggest danger in this new world versus the feelings of safety and comfort at not being alone for the time in what felt like years.

Deep down she felt like she could trust Merle, despite the abrasive front he put up, but could they trust others? Merle didn't seem like he would be much of a group player, he was too independent or possibly even too stubborn to be a follower, but too standoffish and crude to gain his own following. Ivy could definitely see this being a problem for him.

' _Is that why you got cuffed to the roof Ol'Man? People skills gotcha down? Even so that's no reason for you to have been left behind like that. Whatever sick person or people who did that are the exact reason not to trust.'_

Maybe that was why she instinctively trusted him, the subconscious recognition that they had both been wronged by their own kind. Could that single fact bring them together when it should really push them apart? Everything was so backwards nowadays that it wouldn't really surprise her at this point. Now really wasn't the time to be mulling this over though, she would trust her instincts and him as a result. Ivy could stress over what was going on in her head later, if they didn't run into any trouble in there that is.

"If there're people in there then we deal with em'" Merle responded as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Deal with them?" Ivy asked, apprehension clear in her voice. He couldn't really expect the two of them to fight off whoever was in there, could he?

"Use yer head girl, they got what we need. No ones gonna hand that stuff out fer free and all friendly like. Never did and never will. Ya take what ya need ta survive now." He looked her hard in the eyes as he said it and Ivy's eyes drifted from his to her pack slung across his back. He grinned at her knowing she'd made the connection. Ivy frowned and shook her head.

"This is too dangerous Merle. We don't know who could be in there or how many of them there could be. There's so much that could go wrong!" She said, her voice slightly raising in her worry. There was too much risk involved with this. They needed what was in there, but they could find what they needed elsewhere, right? Somewhere that wasn't obviously claimed. There had to be somewhere else.

"Listen Angel, there's nothin' keepin' ya here. Ya can either piss the hell off ta wherever it was ya came from or ya can shut up and help me get in there and get what I need like we agreed on. Ain't nothin' gonna happen to us." He gave her her options and left no room for argument.

Ivy hesitated and thought of her brother, "I don't want us to get hurt, but I don't want to hurt anyone else either. The world is messed up enough as it is." She said meekly as she nervously looked down and her feet. Merle watched her for a second, and if she had been looking she probably would have questioned if she had really caught the momentary softening of his eyes or if she had imagined it.

"Ya won't have ta hurt anyone. Now come on we got shit ta do." He said gruffly before starting to make his way around the back of the lot. Ivy was momentarily surprised that he hadn't said anything to her about being weak or nervous, but she was quick to follow him. She was comforted by how confidently he took the lead and decided to ignore how weirdly natural it felt to fall into step behind him.

When they made it around the back Ivy eyed the fence and realized that Merle was once again going to have to do some climbing. She didn't care how tough he was or how tough he thought he was, she highly doubted he'd be able to make it over with one hand especially with the addition of barbed wire at the top of the fence. She figured that she was even going to have trouble with that...

 _'Bingo! Or maybe we won't have any trouble at all!'_

Ivy left Merle, who was studying the fence probably thinking something similar to her, to walk a few feet down the fence to another panel and dropped into a crouch.

"What're ya doin'? Get back here!" He snapped, though she guessed it might be more in frustration at the situation rather than at her.

"I'm gettin us in the easy way!" Ivy turned back to him with a smile as she gripped the edge of the torn fence. Someone must have broken in at some point, before or after The Fall Ivy didn't know, but either way she was happy that it was never properly fixed just bent back into place in a semi secure way. Merle came to stand over her as she struggled to peel the fence back. He reached down to help her out and together they easily created a gap wide enough for Ivy to slip through and him to squeeze through.

"Hm, good eye Angel." He grunted. Ivy couldn't help but smile a bit at the praise.

Merle pushed the backpack through first then crawled through with a bit of struggle, Ivy popped through behind him while he readjusted the pack on his back.

"Now what?" Ivy asked quietly, looking up at him for their next move.

"We hope that's unlocked. Knife out, and stay close. We don know what's gonna be in there, could be walkers." Merle nodded toward the metal door leading into the back of the warehouse. He knew they were more likely to face someone living, but didn't comment on it. Ivy unsheathed her knife like he told her to, and held it at the ready. The gray building lacked windows on ground level, making it easy for them to cross the lot to the building without possibly being spotted, but also left them without a way to peek into the building for information on what they may be facing.

When they made it to the door Merle wasted no time, his hand went straight for the handle, and shot a quick look to Ivy to see if she was ready. Ivy looked him in the eyes, took a deep breath and gave a firm nod. Merle said that nothing was going to happen to them and however stupid that may seem, she was still going to put her trust in him.

After seeing she was ready Merle slowly turned the handle, his face calm and collected as the mechanism clicked and the door pushed open an inch. He let the handle go to pull out his own knife then slowly pushed the door open with his arm. The door opened with a tiny creek and both of them froze for a second. When nothing happened Merle moved forward through the door with Ivy on his heels gently closing the door behind them. It wouldn't be good for a walker to somehow sneak in behind them, or for the wind to catch the door and slamming it shut, giving away their presence.

The warehouse was large and full of tall shelving units packed with shipping pallets of medical supplies. Once they cleared the building they were going to have to divide and conquer to find what they needed so they could get out as quickly as possible. Sticking around for longer than necessary wasn't an option, they never knew if or when others would show up and neither of them wanted to find out what would happen if that occurred.

Merle moved in close to Ivy and bent so his head was at her ear, "We go straight up 'ere ta the front loading bay, thats most likely where someones gonna set up. Keep an eye on every aisle as we go by, if ya see anything lemme know, but keep quiet." He whispered lowly but clearly in her ear, gesturing up the main aisle they were in with a jerk of his chin. Ivy nodded her head firmly in confirmation.

 _'Aye aye captain!'_

They set off down the main aisle, Ivy once again noticing how Merle didn't make a sound as he walked. He wasn't even watching his feet either, it was like it was the most natural thing in the world to him even with his heavy boots on. She looked down at her own feet to try to walk as silently as him, but she could still hear the slight scuffle of her boots when they hit the ground.

 _'I'm gonna have to get him to teach me how to go stealth mode like that...'_

Looking down each aisle as they went there was no sign of any of the dead or the living, but as they got closer to the loading bay they could hear a rhythmic tapping. Ivy reached out and grabbed Merle's elbow, she was sure he heard it but she wanted reassurance that he did. He gave her a nod without even glancing her way and kept moving.

When they made it to the last shelving unit before the loading bay Merle stopped and gestured Ivy into the side aisle as he moved forward to look around the corner to investigate the tapping noise. While Ivy did what he told her to do she still wanted to know what was making the noise. Quietly sneaking down the aisle a bit she was able to find a gap between pallets where she could crouch down to peek through. What she saw made her stomach drop.

Sitting in a fold out lawn chair on the loading dock was the source of the tapping. A middle aged dark haired man was tapping his foot along to whatever beat was playing through his headphones from the Walkman sitting on his lap. His head was leaned back and his eyes were closed as he enjoyed the music. What really caused her stomach to drop though was Merle striding quickly toward the man with his knife raised.

Ivy froze and she was suddenly miles away. She was no longer hiding behind a shelf full of medical supplies watching Merle kill a man, she was laying stomach down in the dirt peering out through a bush into her camp. Her brother lay on the ground, bloody and beaten, but with a fire still raging in his eyes as he held her in place with his stare demanding her not to move. Not to give herself away. Not to help him.

"Hey!" Merle's loud voice jolted Ivy out of the past. He was standing over her, looking equally as annoyed as he did confused.

"What?" She asked as she blinked up at him, still shaken.

"Are ya deaf? I said we're clear. Let's get what I need so we can get goin'" he said.

Ivy couldn't help guiltily looking back through the gap in the pallets to see the man's lifeless body, "I thought we weren't going to hurt anyone..." she said softly.

"I said that ya wouldn't have ta hurt anyone, not we. 'Sides, it's not like I killed him. Just knocked the stupid spic out, he's lucky we weren't walkers." Merle held up his knife and mimed hitting someone over the head with the handle.

Ivy breathed a sigh if relief when she focused on the man better and could see the slight rise and fall of his chest. Knowing he wasn't actually dead helped shake her terror from before, and made it easier to push back her memories. She'd deal with those later. Later was always easier, especially when later was never really given a set time.

As she was getting up she went over Merle's words again. He was right, he did say that she specifically wouldn't have to hurt anyone, he had created a loophole. Ivy knew she should probably feel mad at him for it, but she wasn't. She was almost grateful instead. Going over the second part of what he said though made her cringe at his choice of words.

"You can't say stuff like that. It's racist." Ivy told him firmly.

"So what?" He said, not liking her tone.

"So it's rude and offensive, meaning you shouldn't use it." She figured she should keep her finishing _'duh'_ to herself.

"I ain't ever cared about no ones feelings before and I ain't about to start now so you can shut yer damn trap girl." He snarled harshly.

"Mhmm, we'll see about that. C'mon lets get our stuff before he wakes up." Ivy said sweetly as she wandered off down the aisle, feigning confidence as she honestly had no clue where to start looking.

 _'Fake it till ya make it, right?'_


End file.
